Foreign fixtures up to fans – Brown

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has waded in to the row over playing Premier League football games abroad, saying: “The fans have got to come first”.

Mr Brown’s comments come after fans reacted angrily to plans for a round of Premiership games to be played overseas.

Speaking to Eamonn Holmes on BBC Radio Five Live the PM said: “I think the fans have got to come first, and we have got to listen to what the views of the fans are on this.”

But he added that if the money generated by playing abroad was put back in to the English game, fans could benefit from cheaper ticket prices.

“I have just come back from China and India and the support for the Premier League and people watching matches there is just incredible,” he said.

“I think you have got audiences around the world. Now if that is money that is going back into football, and if that is helping keep the price of tickets down in England, and if that means that more fans get more opportunities of going to matches as a result of that at a cheaper price, then that would be something that I think people would want to take into account.

“But really, let’s hear what the fans say on this.

“There is no doubt about the worldwide interest in the Premier League and there is no doubt that that is good for football because it gets more money into the game in England, and there is no doubt that the English Premier League has taken over from the Spanish and the Italian as being probably the one that people want to watch most.

“So let’s see what the fans say about this.

“But I think it is important to recognise that all the money has got to go back into the game so that the fans get the benefit.”